Spartanburg City Council recently voted 5-0 to approve first reading for a quartet of items related to the new minor league baseball stadium and adjacent developments.
Council member Erica Brown was absent from the meeting, and Council member Rob Rain recused himself from voting on the items as he is employed by Johnson Development Associates, Inc., which is developing the project.
The four items approved were consistent with the development agreement approved by Spartanburg City Council last September and constitute a major step for the city’s involvement with the development. The items included:
- An ordinance to authorize the execution of an agreement between the City of Spartanburg and Spartanburg County regarding sharing costs of constructing, financing, and maintaining the stadium.
- An ordinance to authorize a 20-year lease agreement with Diamond Baseball Holdings, LLC., the owner and operator of the minor league baseball team that will call Spartanburg home. Under terms of the agreement, Diamond Baseball Holdings will lease the stadium from the City of Spartanburg, managing the space year-round and allowing the city to hold no fewer than 10 community events in the space each year. Diamond Baseball Holdings will initially pay $500,000 annually to the city, with that sum escalating every 5 years based on the Consumer Price Index. The team will also collect a $1 facility fee per ticket sold for the stadium’s maintenance.
- An ordinance consenting to the removal of the property from a joint county industrial/business park and including it in a new joint county industrial/business park to facilitate agreements between the City of Spartanburg and Spartanburg County regarding their partnership in the development project.
- An ordinance authorizing the issuance of $67.5 million in bond debt to pay for the baseball stadium’s construction.
Currently under construction on downtown Spartanburg’s western edge, the new stadium (which will be named Fifth Third Park) is the centerpiece of a $425 million development that spans over four downtown blocks, bounded by W Henry St. to the south, W Main St. to the north, S Daniel Morgan Ave. and Spring St. to the east, and the CSX Railroad to the west.
In addition to the 3,500-seat stadium, the development area will include 200,000 sq. ft. of office space, over 375 apartment units, a 150-room hotel, parking facilities to house at least 1,500 vehicles, and a large public plaza and event space. Construction on the project will take place in phases, with the stadium and first parking structure expected to be completed by spring of 2025 and subsequent phases to be completed over several years.
Under terms of the previously approved development agreement, Johnson Development Associates will invest $305 million to construct multiple structures for the development’s office space and commercial component, a new 150-unit hotel, and three parking facilities.
In addition to City funding, additional public funding for the development will help pay for the stadium and public infrastructure construction, coming in the form of $54,000,000 in state funding, $3.6 million in Downtown Partnership Committee funds set aside for downtown development, and $1.8 million in Spartanburg County Accommodations Tax funding. The City intends to repay its bond obligations using Spartanburg County Accommodations Tax funding, Downtown Partnership Committee funding, City Hospitality Tax funding, and stadium lease payments from the team.
For more from the meeting on April 8, 2024, see the full video by following this link.
Written by the City of Spartanburg.